Meet Finn, the Doll for Boys (or Girls)

I don't really like the idea of guns and things that shoot, my son loves Lego and Playmobil and using his imagination with castles, cars and similar toys, so when I was asked if he'd like to review the Finn doll from the makers of the fabulous Lottie dolls I knew he'd really enjoy it.

Arriving with everything you need to get started, Finn comes full clothed and a with rather lovely kite to fly, we were also sent an extra set with fishing gear.

I love that the outfits are fun and age appropriate, my son loves that he has a gilet on just like the one he has. The first thing he did was ask to me to get his Fisher Price house down, he then got to work putting the fishing rod in the garage and finding other things to play with alongside Finn.

The doll itself has posable arms and apart from the hair, which has a rather drastic haircut (the hair at the back is cut quite close to the head), it is well put together, his clothes withstood being taken on and off by a six year old boy.

I really like the idea behind the whole range of Lottie & Finn dolls, they allow children to be children and play with toys that don't promote violence or are overly sexualised as some dolls can be.

Finn is priced at £16.99 which I don't think it too overpriced, the Gone Fishing set is £7.99, it is suitable for ages three and up too so the perfect toddler present.

If you like what you see, then the lovely people over at Lottie are offering my readers 20% off purchases over £20 (Offer code is LOTTIE10 and works at the Amazon checkout only (not on the LOTTIE website cart) offer allows 20% off orders over £20 across entire range.  Offer ends Midnight on Sunday, 14 December 2014)

NB: I was sent the Finn doll for the purpose of the review, all opinions are my own.

Snibston Discovery Museum

Yesterday we visited Snibston Discovery centre, a long standing museum that I remember visiting when I was younger. (Please note that sadly Snibston Discovery is now closed due to the council stopping their funding)

Located on the site of the former Snibston Colliery created by famous railway pioneer George Stephenson, it is an important piece of history.

We took a picnic which we sat and ate in a 1980's Finnish train carriage, now used as an indoor picnic area. The children enjoyed this as they both love trains.

Then we moved to the outside adventure play area, where there were lots of water activities. We got to learn about how we get water and use it to power things. They both enjoyed playing with the archimedes screw and pumps and then making the water wheels work.

The adventure playground is always a hit with my husband and son, this one had large and small activities, so there was something for most ages to enjoy. Next to this, there was a composting area where we got to see different ways of composting food, in various wormeries and compost machines.

There were lots of musical instruments to try and then these brilliant dishes, you speak into one end and you can hear the person very clearly at the other end, these were there when I went some 21 years ago and were still as intriguing now for my son.

Moving inside to the engineering and extractive industries galleries, we got to see many different machines from past to present, from the first bikes and busses to electric cars. Exhibits also showed how they used steam engines to power tools and machinery in the victorian era. Then we moved into the fashion gallery, which houses the largest collection of fashion outside of London. There are hands on exhibits for the children placed quite regularly around the entire museum, including in the fashion gallery, where we tried our hands at weaving.

Moving on to the science and technology areas, we all enjoyed learning about everything from wind power to tornadoes, magnets to vacuums. It was educational but fun and for a 6 year old and 3 year old this is key.

The 'how to make fire' exhibit was also a favourite, you first have to turn a stick, to make energy, then use bellows to add oxygen, then a real flames leap up in the centre of the exhibit! We also learned about reflection, how our body works and got to play with a large plasma ball.

Overall we spent nearly 5 hours at Snibston, including the picnic and two goes on the adventure playground, it offers all weather fun and is reasonably priced at just under £25 for a family of four.

There was something for everyone to engage with and enjoy. We all had a wonderful day out, learning about the world around us both past and present.

Linking up to Country Kids on Coombe Mill and Magic Moments on The Olivers Madhouse.

Living Arrows 20/52

We live so far away from the beach this is as close as it gets, but it is still fun non the less :)

Little Miss Hug

Yesterday saw the launch of a brilliant new Little Miss book, Little Miss Hug is a cheeky, pink character known for her hugs.

This new book is the 35^th book in the popular Little Miss series, and what a fantastic book it is.  Little Miss Hug is an expert hugger who knows how to give the perfect hug to all of her Mr Men and Little Miss friends in times of need and for fun, because you don’t need a reason to share a hug with your friends.

We love hugs in this family so this book went down a treat, so much so we read it two times last night.  I don't want to spoil the story but it is a truly wonderful and heart warming story with some of the most famous Mr Men characters making an appearance.

My daughter loves it so much and has been looking at the pictures, telling me about them. The pictures are bright and colourful and typical of this classic series.

This book fits in perfect with the whole Mr Men and Little Miss series and carries on the wonderful world that Roger Hargreaves created.

In addition to the new book is a free AR (Augmented Reality) App that is available to download on both Android and IOS, it is absolutely wonderful and works with the book as well as pages in the Mr Men and Little Miss magazine. 

Pointing the device at the book brings Little Miss Hug to life and from there you can play a game or even get her to give you a hug.

I love that the book is moving with the times and can be enjoyed in so many ways, we will always love reading the books most though :)

NB We were sent the book to review, all opinions and picture are my own.

Princess Fairy Cakes - Toddler Fun

My daughter loves helping me to bake cakes, so when I spotted these princess cake cases and icing cake toppers I knew they would make it all the more enjoyable.

For this you'll need a basic Victoria sponge recipe, I use my old faithful Be-Ro recipe which I pop everything in the mixer and it never fails.

Once mixed, pop in to the cake cases and the once cooked we made pink icing, placed some super snazzy pink sprinkles on and then the cake toppers.

And voila, easy peasy pretty cakes that take about just the right amount of time for the attention span of a small child. They taste pretty nice too ;)

I love the time me and her spend baking, it is a great way to spend time together and always means we get to enjoy something afterwards.

Living Arrows 17/52

This week my daughter has been obsessed with blowing dandelion clocks, the perfect childhood activity.

Gorgeous Turbans and Headbands for Your Little One

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a gorgeous headband from Rhyla over on their IG feed.

It's always difficult to tell what something will be like from a picture on the Internet so when this arrived and was way and above what I'd hoped for I was super excited.

Not only was the quality amazing but the attention to detail is magnificent and best of all it looks perfect on.

Now because they are amazing quality and gorgeous too they already have a bit of a following, especially in the celebrity world with the cute little Penelope Disick daughter of Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick wearing them.

I chose the Ryhla black and white sailor knot turban for my daughter, it is classic and well it looked darn cute on the model.

It looks great on my daughter and best of all as she needed a large it fits me too, I mean I have in no way borrowed it...honest. OK so I did but hay its really cute.

The material is super soft and I love the knot detail it is really beautiful.

At the knot at the back there is this cute little heart tag which is a really cute touch.

Even though my daughter has really fair hair it still looks great on, she isn't normally one for things in her hair but loves this.

There are a few others I adored but alas I could only choose one, I may be back for more though when she has got used to wearing them.

This one is my other favourite and it was a tough choice between this one and the one above.

But there is a wide choice to suit all tastes and budgets with prices from £11.79.

So if you are looking for something to jazz up an outfit for a wedding or party then do check Rhyla out, they are really beautiful and just look fabulous on.

I have received no payment for this and have chosen to right the post entirely out of a love for the product.

Pinata Box Review

We were sent a Pinata box just before Christmas, it was an instant hit for both myself and my son, with lots of ideas and things to do.

 

This box was full of tissue paper, sequins, paper, cards, cookie cutters and with the tag to open the box down the middle it opened out just like a Pinata.
 

My son got to work straight away making some Christmas cards for his grandparents, although this wasn't on the things to do sheet it got him started on being creative.

I am pretty proud of his first creation, this Robin card is fab and he managed to make it all himself.

He then moved onto making a bauble card and finally what I named a Christmas sprite :)

I really love the Pinata box, delivered direct to your child it gets the creative juices flowing and even if you aren't that creative it gives you ideas of things to do with your child. It includes pretty much everything you need to get creative.

You can subscribe as a one off or as part of a monthly subscription so why not take a look and get creative.

We won our Pinata box but were asked to give our opinions on them, this post is entirely my own view on the box.

Mini Blackberry Crumble

I have found that if my son helps make something or has had some involvement in it, he eats it no questions asked.

The other week he had helped my mum pick some blackberries from their garden so as a quick pudding I made some mini blackberry crumbles.

These are quick because I always have some crumble mix in the freezer, a good tip is to just make an extra batch when making a large one, perfect for quick or emergency puddings.

Add a handful of frozen blackberries into a ramekin, top with the crumble mix, add a sprinkle of sugar and bake until the top is golden and voila....

For children I advise removing from the ramekin as it will be hot, serve with a dollop of ice cream or some cream and away you go.

I would love to hear what quick and easy puddings you have that are a mini person favourite.

Toddler Activities - Easy Butterfly Jam Tarts

With some left over shortcrust pastry I decided to make some little butterfly jam tarts with my son.

They are really easy to do and with the addition of a little butterfly these are perfect for kids, we even added a couple of initials to the mix but you could include anything you can shape in pastry really.

You will need, some shortcrust pastry, jam and pastry cutters.

Roll out pastry (about the thickness of £1 coin) and cut into circles, using a pastry cutter or glass

Place into cupcake tins and add a teaspoon of jam

Place a small pastry butterfly on top and bake for 15 mins on 160c

Remove from tin and leave to cool!

That's it for now, enjoy :)

Rainy Day Activity - Cornflake Cakes

There is nothing more satisfying in the world than melting chocolate, it's consistency is so lovely and I have no doubt I am not the only one who looks forward to licking the bowl!

Making cornflake cakes is a perfect rainy day activity to do with your children and this morning we did just that.

This is great fun for toddlers and preschoolers and brightens up the gloomiest of days.

I haven't put the amounts down as you can do them with as little or as much chocolate as you like and I never make them with weighed ingredients just however much looks like enough ;) Just add cornflakes a bit at a time and you can't go wrong.

In a bowl over a pan of hot water, melt some chocolate.

Be careful not to get any water in as this upsets chocolate

Once all melted carefully take off the heat

Add some cornflakes and stir (children are especially helpful at this bit)

Ensure the chocolate coats the cornflakes and add more cornflakes if it looks to chocolatey

Another child friendly part of making them, get them to put the cake cases into tins

Spoon the mixture into the cases and pop in the fridge to cool

Once cooled eat....

 We added some raisins to ours but you could also add nuts, marshmallows or anything else you fancy really.

We have lift off!

Well not exactly lift off, but today my little girl pulled herself up for the first time!

*excuse me a second whilst I sob into a tissue* Soon she will be walking and then she will be a toddler and no longer a baby!

I can see why some women have child after child, as much as I enjoy watching her grow there is part of me that just wants her to be my baby that little bit longer. But as she curiously watches her brother running round like a mad man I can see in her eyes the desire to be chasing him.

The term 'eyes in the back of your head' has never rung so true, I have no idea how I am going to keep tabs on them both once they are both mobile.

I suppose we had better think about getting her some shoes *claps* with my son there wasn't a huge choice but for girls...whoa nelly I am soooo excited.

Just have to get her little feet measured (and I mean little she has the dinkiest of feet) and then off I shop, first stop will be Little Stomper if you haven't visited them you should.

My vacuuming obsession!

So you may have seen my post the other month that mentioned my obsession with vacuuming, I'm not OCD yet but on average I vacuum at least twice a day, on Saturday I think I may have vacuumed four times.

I mean there is nothing worse than having bits of half chewed food or crumbs stuck to your ruddy sock, or having bits of cheese trodden around the rest of the house.

My son has a habit of eating his food with so much gusto I find bits on the other side of the room and with a nine month old who has just found the joys of crawling I can never be too careful that she doesn't find a rogue raisin or cheerio!

Please someone tell me I'm not the only person who does this!!!!!!!!!!